Archive for the ‘Communication’ Category

There is no unanimous agreement on the benefit of focus groups, or even how to conduct focus research or use what is learned from it. Done well, however, focus groups can be a source of information.

At the Direct Marketing Association New York Nonprofit Conference, Dana Weinstein, membership director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), and John Perell, manager of direct marketing, research and analytics at the American Red Cross (ARC) national headquarters, talked about focus groups their organizations conducted and the knowledge they gleaned from them.

The results for the museum:

There was little to no idea of the USHMM work. It was an unknown entity.

Commonly used language describing its public-private partnership (federal support and nationwide donors) did not resonate.

Despite deep probing, messaging to war veteran audiences did not resonate.

2. Always leave your phone number twice. 866-WRK-LESS. Once at the beginning and once at the end. But they have my phone number, you cry! No, they don’t, not with them. But we talk every day! Yes, and they don’t have your phone number. Not in front of their eyes. Just leave it. Leave it at the beginning of the message and the end. If they miss it the first time, they’ll have a second chance. And whether their voicemail has “rewind 10 seconds” or “replay from start,” they’ll //quickly// be able to get right to the number with only a couple of key presses. 866-WRK-LESS.

3. Speak slowly and clearly. Your brain screens out traffic, conversations, and wind while you leave a message. You hear the dulcet strains of your own voice, while the voicemail system hears static, wind, the occasional siren, and that truly disgusting belch you expelled without a second thought. Oh, yeah, and your cell phone is cutting out while you leave the message. Speak to them … like … they’re … a … child. They’ll understand you and you’ll get the fun of activating your parental instincts without the fuss of actually changing your friend’s diapers.

4. Leave enough information so the person can take the next step. Don’t just say “Call me.” What a cop out. You’ll just bounce back and forth like some hideous voicemail volleyball. Tell them enough so they can proceed without calling back, or if they call back, they can do it having made all the progress possible. “This is Sam, calling about the, er, health issue. Could you call me back with the name of that antibiotic? And what’s your favorite cotton swab? Thanks!”

By the way, when you’re done with this episode, download a PDF of these rules from getitdone.quickanddirtytips.com.

5. If you’re just calling to touch base, let them know a few times when they can call you back. There are times you want a phone call, and times when you don’t. When you’re out on the town, edging up to that sexy single standing by the bar, you just aren’t in the mood to take a phone call about refilling your company’s supply of packing peanuts. Tell your voicemail victim, “Give me a call today after 3, tomorrow at 7, or Thursday between 9 and noon.” You’ll help them and save your love life, all at once.

6. Keep it short and simple.

7. Make it fun. If you must go on and on in a voicemail message, make it easy to listen to. Be humorous. Sing. Deliver your message in rhyme. I do all these things, and people love getting messages from me. If you’re going to force people to think of you, have ’em think of you fondly.

I recently discovered the audio book, The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch. A long-standing academic tradition, the “last lecture” is premised on what a professor might say to a class as a final “words of wisdom.” Dr. Pausch, terminally ill from pancreatic cancer, actually delivered a last lecture at Carnegie Mellon on September 18, 2007 where has was a professor of computer science. The audio book was terrific and I am enjoying a second listen. The YouTube link to the video can be found here.

With wonderful candor, and humility, Dr. Pausch shares great wisdom and practical advice on living a life worthy of itself. Framed as a future gift to his three children, The Last Lecture, is a gift to all of us. Let me share a scintilla of his wisdom on how to make an apology.

The art of apologizing and meaning it has all but been lost in a time of spin, market messaging, and legal language. The ability to apologize — to deescalate and step away from the Sirens’ call of “being right” — is so very important. Yet, what often results are half-hearted and thinly veiled attempts to manipulate and wallow in the luxury of being right.

But what if apologizing is acknowledging that life is just complicated and two people, or two litigants, or two warring nations just see the circumstance from very different vantage points?

It seems like we have a choice — we can be right (always attractive to us humans), or we can be effective. Maybe, just maybe, apologizing is a commitment to ourselves to become complete, to let go, to move on. Could it be that apologizing is an act of self-creation and healing for ourselves?

Dr. Pausch talks of the two ways that we so often “apologize.”

“I’m sorry you feel hurt by what I’ve done.” Get real, that isn’t apologizing; it’s a toxic spin to make ourselves right.

“I apologize for what I did, but you also need to apologize for what you’ve done to me.” No cigar here either. This is asking for an apology, not giving one.

Both of the above are life sucks, and will just piss people off. Then damn, we get to be right again.

Randy recommends a much more effective, three-step process to effective apologizing:

“What I did was wrong”

“I feel badly that I hurt you.”

“How do I make this better?”

Talk about words creating healing. And yes, some people might attempt to take advantage of you when you ask how you can make it better. But Randy found that people will generally appreciate that you made a good effort. He found that they may tell you how to make improve the situation in some overall, easy way. And often, they’ll work hard to make thing better themselves.

Randy’s parting words are to “be patient for others to come around, because they just might.” But either way, we are complete; we can move on. I know for myself I am reminded of the old saw, “too long dumb, too short smart.”

It seems that every nonprofit imaginable has a website. The dirty little secret is that most are horrible! Most should be assigned to the trash. Absolute failures to connect and communicate.

Here’s my take on the top reasons for these failures and some thoughts on improvement.

The Dead Site: Sorry but it’s true; you’re the only one who doesn’t know it. Sadly, this is the majority of nonprofit sites. These are the “tombstone websites” – nothing more than a poor version of an electronic brochure. Grab your visitors. Speak to their values, visions, hopes and dreams. If you don’t have the time or minimum resources to develop and regularly update a site, you’re better off taking it down until you can adequately support it.

The No Purpose Site: What do you want your visitor to do? Identify next step actions — maybe, sign up for a newsletter?, become part of your advocacy campaign?, download a great resource? Have friends that aren’t familiar with your organization honestly review your site. Ask them to find the answer to some questions about your group. Examples could include: where are we physically located?, what is your organization’s mission?, what are your recent achievements?, how could them become involved? Pay attention to how easy it is to navigate your site (don’t talk!). Make notes on the ease or difficulty in finding these answers. This feedback is invaluable. Make changes based on what you learned.

The No Follow-up Site: The primary purpose of any website is to get visitors to return! And that’s only going to happen if there’s a reason to do so. If you haven’t identified your web audiences, then you aren’t ready for the web. Every audience will have different and often multiple reasons to become engaged. And don’t think that you are going to raise much money on your site. Unless you are a nationally recognized organization responding to a compelling crisis (e.g. Katrina, Tsunami, etc.), people are not going to donate through your site for a while, and maybe never. Begin a discussion; give them a reason to return, start a relationship.

Need help redeveloping a site that rocks? Let us help. See your services, here.

About the Author

Bill Freeman has worked in the nonprofit and cause-related arena for over 25 years.
From social services and higher education to healthcare and grassroots activism, he has been a catalyst in developing leadership and implementing programs that effectively respond to pressing social challenges. Learn more »